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UNICEF: Emergency supplies for women and children reach Aleppo and Homs

DAMASCUS/AMMAN, 19 April 2013 – UNICEF and partners have just completed delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to the difficult to reach embattled northern city of Aleppo, while a separate mission this week brought much needed emergency supplies for children and women in Talbiseh near Homs, one of the hardest hit conflict areas in Syria.

With the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and other UN agencies, UNICEF brought to Aleppo four trucks filled with 89 medical kits, 2,000 family hygiene kits and 2 resuscitation kits along with 1,000 towels, 48 boxes of soap, summer clothing and school supplies.

“The situation is extremely difficult because of the conflict,” said Ettie Higgins, Deputy Representative, UNICEF Syria, after returning to Damascus from Aleppo on Thursday. “But UNICEF continues to work around the clock and with partners to ensure that children, no matter where they are, and who live in the most difficult and horrendous circumstances, are reached with life-saving support.”

In a separate mission, nine trucks filled with emergency medical supplies, food, 1,000 family hygiene and 500 baby kits, along with some 160 school-in-a box supplies and 900 bottles of shampoo arrived in Talbiseh, benefiting over 55,000 people.

"I will never forget how happy children were when they saw the trucks of supplies arriving, and especially when they first saw the educational materials for them," said Abdul Kadir Musse, Chief of the UNICEF Homs Field Office, noting that mothers had been particularly pleased to see the medicine for their children.

Living conditions inside Syria, especially in the hardest hit areas, have become increasingly desperate. Children continue to bear the brunt of the crisis, as violence and the level of destruction escalate. Many hospitals, schools and homes have been destroyed, more than 4 million people have been internally displaced, half of them children, with many living in over-crowded and unsanitary conditions.

Despite obstacles on the ground and funding shortages, UNICEF and partners continue to deliver assistance for the children inside Syria and the over 600,000 more who have fled to neighbouring countries.

Donors have provided generous support for UNICEF’s work, but the needs of Syrian children and their families are growing exponentially, and additional funding is urgently required.

### About UNICEF

UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org